PMEducation
RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
In order to effectively manage the Risks in your project, you will need a Risk Management Plan. The size and detail of your plan will depend upon the complexity and other aspects of your project.
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Some sources suggest starting to prepare the Risk Management Plan at conception of the project and completing it early during project planning. I prefer to have a fair bit of planning done before addressing how to manage the Risks, as this approach brings a sense of reality to the planning process.
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Your Project Team might ask, Why do we need a Risk Management Plan?" You can refer them to this document.
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As Professional Project Manager, Risk Management is one of your responsibilities. Specifically the Project Manager is responsible to:
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1) Develop and implement the Risk Management Plan
2) Organize regular Risk management meetings to review the Risks, identify
new ones, and update the Risk Register.
3) Assess identified Risks and develop Risk Responses to address them
4) Ensure closest monitoring of most severe Risks
5) Provide reporting to the Project Sponsor on a regular or as required basis.
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It is not too difficult when you have the right tools.
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The template downloaded by pressing this button is one of the best, and it leads you through filling out the form.
Use as much or as little of this template as you feel your project requires. A few items you could add to this template are:
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Executive Summary at the beginning would be a welcome addition to this Risk Management Plan template.
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Categorization of the Risks. Grouping Risks by potential causes, for example.
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Numerical scales for Probability and for Impact.
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Stakeholder Risk Attitude
Your Risks should be logged on a Risk Register. Templates may vary in form and detail. This first one (Risk Register 1) has easy instructions which can be used for any project. Download by clicking the blue button below.
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Our Risk Register for the project 'Plan Parade,' using the Risk Register 1 template, is shown below.
Giving a numerical value to Probabilities, and even to Impacts is usually very subjective. Some people find it easier to use terms like High, Medium, and Low. Either way, you want to get to a numerical value (Rank) for each Risk so risks can be prioritized. The Risk Register template is more spreadsheet style. It includes High, Medium, and Low terms, plus a Ranking table with Excel formulas. This is only an example, so you can set up your own table to suit your project. Download Risk Register 2 and the Labels for Risk Register 2 by clicking the blue buttons below.
After a Risk occurs it is called an Issue. We keep track of these on an Issue Log. Issues are resolved the same as conflicts.